Season 14/15 Banter thread

fannymagee

a148pro wrote: »

They are talking about serious snow this week. As I look at flights longingly...

Buy the flights ;-)

dzer2

a148pro wrote: »

They are talking about serious snow this week. As I look at flights longingly...

Get the flights man you know you want to

Fattes

AlternateID wrote: »

This is a best of from last weekends FWT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIFb_n9th6w

Next meet is in Fieberbunn this weekend weather permitting.

The head judge of the FWT is crashing with me for 4 days after fierbunn!! Sadly I won't be skiing. With him has not stopped snowing here it's nearly 2 am and still dumping

Fattes

So much snow and my crippled knee is stopping me skiing it!

Imagine this is at resort level 2,000 meters above this is heaven right now

stevire

Is Austria getting the same snow? St Anton Saturday!!!!!

fobster

Got back from a great week in Flaine on Saturday night, UCPA all the way, 2 Swedes and myself were considered the "crazy" gang in our lessons, mind you we were the only ones wearing helmets, go fish :P

Would definitely go back, our GoMassif bus driver was saying every time she sees an article calling Flaine ugly, she smiles and says "Great, more for us!"

Fattes

http://instagram.com/p/yWuIm4OVw6/

Conditions today and we are due another meter! It's still snowing as I type

kal7

fobster,

I am off to flaine for first time to this resort in mid feb, any tips or advice for on/off piste.

I am reasonable skier, done 18 weeks or thereabouts. Is it correct that none of black pistes are open as flaine website indicates.

Did you use guide?

Can't wait, watching webcam and snow reports several times a day.

Fattes

kal7 wrote: »

fobster,

I am off to flaine for first time to this resort in mid feb, any tips or advice for on/off piste.

I am reasonable skier, done 18 weeks or thereabouts. Is it correct that none of black pistes are open as flaine website indicates.

Did you use guide?

Can't wait, watching webcam and snow reports several times a day.

Anything over 25-30 degrees will be closed right now, Flaine and most of that area are receiving heavy snowfall right now which means high avalanche risk

kal7

Thanks Fattes,

understand the very high risk at those angles of slope.

However the all the black slopes seem to be closed for last couple weeks according to piste guide, even without recent snow fall, was wondering if they were just not updating the info?

Hope your back up soon.

Rew

kal7 wrote: »

Thanks Fattes,

understand the very high risk at those angles of slope.

However the all the black slopes seem to be closed for last couple weeks according to piste guide, even without recent snow fall, was wondering if they were just not updating the info?

Almost all the blacks in Les Arcs were closed for the last few weeks due to the **** condition they were in with the lack of fresh snow.

fobster

kal7 wrote: »

Thanks Fattes,

understand the very high risk at those angles of slope.

However the all the black slopes seem to be closed for last couple weeks according to piste guide, even without recent snow fall, was wondering if they were just not updating the info?

Hope your back up soon.

In the whole Grand Massif there were only a handful of blacks open, in Flaine one or two might have opened for awhile and then closed again they weren't something I was aiming for though so don't take my word for it.

In terms of off-piste, Flaine is on limestone (ala the Burren) so is littered with holes, big and small, in most of the resort so a guide is ESSENTIAL.

One of the Swedes I befriended was doing the UCPA Snowboard off-piste course so after he learnt the spots we'd do them with him once he knew what we could handle!

The best section we did was at the top of the Corbalanche lift, as you're coming up the lift it is to your right, it's a moderate sloped bowl which opens out into a slope between two river gullies and leads back down to the Corbalanche lift. We did that run 3 times in succession, it was perfect for my off-piste capabilities, bliss... We did that on the Tuesday, the main snowfall was Friday/Saturday and we still managed to get fresh tracks.

a148pro

fannymagee wrote: »

Buy the flights ;-)

dzer2 wrote: »

Get the flights man you know you want to

Your advice is undoubtedly morally correct and welcome, unfortunately it just doesn't quite work out for me between work Friday and Monday and child on Saturday.

But the really annoying thing is it could almost have worked had things been slightly different! Sometimes you're better of fhaving no chance of doing something because you don't think about it, but if it might happen... John Cleese's line in Clockwise (great film from 80s if you've not seen it) - "Its not the despair, I can handle the despair, its the hope...!".

Dr Nic

Any bargains left on ski salopettes? Gotta come up to mid torso as im a boarder!

Or any advice how to fix an ass rip in my mountain force for all the falls on my impact shorts...

AlternateID

Dr Nic wrote: »

Any bargains left on ski salopettes? Gotta come up to mid torso as im a boarder!

Or any advice how to fix an ass rip in my mountain force for all the falls on my impact shorts...

Duct tape or

Get yourself into tk max if you don't want to spend a lot. No need for mid torso. Jacket with snow skirt is enough.

Fattes

A meter of snow in 24 hours and this morning is well Schön

http://instagram.com/p/yY6OMcDZbA/

fobster

I'm just glad I have another trip booked at the end of March to keep me sane!

Fattes

One of our many freeride areas today 1,200 meter vertical 30-45 degrees and no natural terrain hazards

Dr Nic

AlternateID wrote: »

Duct tape or

Get yourself into tk max if you don't want to spend a lot. No need for mid torso. Jacket with snow skirt is enough.

Any tk maxx with trousers left? 2 wjth none. Stephens green and limk.

I board so def getting torso level
Tried duct tape. Not great

Fattes

A tiny bit more fresh

cormee

Dr Nic wrote: »

Any tk maxx with trousers left? 2 wjth none. Stephens green and limk.

I board so def getting torso level
Tried duct tape. Not great

Snowpursuit.com has some good deals, just paid €40 for a pair of Dare2B pants yesterday. Including delivery. Only thing is delivery can take a few weeks.

AlternateID

Collecting my boards from snow and rock tonight. Will stick my head into tk for a look see. Very excited. Haven't been into tk in about 5 years.

cormee

AlternateID wrote: »

Collecting my boards from snow and rock tonight. Will stick my head into tk for a look see. Very excited. Haven't been into tk in about 5 years.

Shag all in TK Maxx in both Dundrum TC and Stephen's Green last time I looked, two Friday's ago.

Where/when you heading?

Lots and lots of snow in Chamonix today, and forecast for the rest of the week.

/34 days and counting

AlternateID

cormee wrote: »

Shag all in TK Maxx in both Dundrum TC and Stephen's Green last time I looked, two Friday's ago.

Where/when you heading?

Lots and lots of snow in Chamonix today, and forecast for the rest of the week.

/34 days and counting

15 days to go for me. Will be exploring Tirol.

Dr Nic

Tried 3 tkmaxx. Only a handful of Crap trousers left. And i will not wear dear 2be!

Bogwoppit

Sunday can't come soon enough, 2 weeks on the snow

Fattes

I am 5'11 or there about a and the poles come up to my neck! Give an idea of how much snow we have had the last few days

Dr Nic

Avalanche central so for a few weeks!

fmlarnapairce

anyone watching the night slalom in schladming on eurosport? exciting stuff, a russian won it be nearly 1.5 seconds! which seemingly is a lot in slalom (between 1st and second anyway)

Fattes

No shortage of people looking for Darwin awards still

http://www.planetski.eu/news/6693

Fattes

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1619516_10153589990189148_1975446928508676496_n.jpg?oh=a590677e6db7e0b3360e473dd5c8ede7&oe=55585B17

Purple is good, Purple is very good! We are about an arrow and a half below zurich!

fannymagee

Friend of mine dug a Dutch kid out of an avalanche in Kitzbuehel yesterday. He was 7 mins down, and news reports today said he's dead but he's hangin in there still alive- just about. Poor kid.

Fattes

Shots of a monster avalanche here today!!

http://instagram.com/p/yciD9NnXj0/

http://instagram.com/p/yciD9NnXj0/

AlternateID

Fattes wrote: »

Shots of a monster avalanche here today!!

http://instagram.com/p/yciD9NnXj0/

http://instagram.com/p/yciD9NnXj0/

Man made or is that the one that caught the skiers this afternoon? Looks big.

Fattes

AlternateID wrote: »

Man made or is that the one that caught the skiers this afternoon? Looks big.

It's in a narrow couloir called Graben, in one of our freeride areas, natural slide separate from the Verbier story posted earlier.

On all honesty if you were skiing that chute this week you deserve a Darwin Award! Even in good conditions it's Ropey with other idiots coming behind you!

Fattes

http://youtu.be/1lcK1aaxk8I

One of the hotels posted this today, regularly see Geny hammering about the place just like in the video!

masseyno9

Dr Nic wrote: »

Any tk maxx with trousers left? 2 wjth none. Stephens green and limk.

I board so def getting torso level
Tried duct tape. Not great

Agree with the other poster - absolutely no need for mid-torso level pants. I've boarded for 10+ years in various conditions and for various lengths of time (week long holidays, full season, weekends and day trips) and I've never worn anything longer than standard pants. I've been out in deep snow in -25C and spring conditions on slushy stuff. Open the vents if it's warm, close vents and jacket's snow-skirt if it's cold/snowy/windy.

Don't limit your gear choice based on advice someone once gave you or because it's just always what you've done. If you're a beginner that bails a lot and gets snow down yer hole, then get suspenders and a jacket with a decent snow-skirt. This will be enough to "make the seal" as I call it. If you're experienced and riding deep-stuff, snow-skirt will be fine or for the serious pow-hound research which brands have zip-together stuff. Volcom do, not sure of others. Above all, remember you're doing a snow-sport...don't be terrified of a bit of snow getting in!

Also, textiles are so much better today than even 5 or 10 years ago with the majority of manufacturers using 10,000mm waterproofing as a standard, where 5,000 used to be considered good.

Ultimately it's up to you, but I'd say not to be overly picky and just choose some pants at a good price from a reputable brand if/when you find them.

Fattes

Back in business!!!

fobster

Happy return to the slopes! The snow gods must have been waiting for your recovery!

Fattes

Will be limited for the next week or two till I rebuild the movements and muscle memory but not bad for a first day in 4 weeks after a full Patella dislocation!

http://youtu.be/FPb25WXEc0w

fmlarnapairce

Fattes wrote: »

Back in business!!!

fairplay, I see you've taken up boarding......

a148pro

Hopefully fattes your remobilization will leave you more time to enjoy and less time to post pictures of the conditions that the rest of us can't get out to; )

masseyno9

Good to hear Fattes.

Gearing up for Revelstoke next weekend. Monday booked off work - weather watching can begin! Last year's trip was cut short because the road closed due to too much snow! This year I'd like an adequate amount of snow. It was 16 degrees in Calgary last weekend and has got steadily colder all week...due to culminate in -14 Sunday I hear. a 30 degree swing over the course of a week sounds drastic, but I've seen it happen over 2 days before. Crazy weather patterns out here! Here's hoping that out in BC it's equally cold this week!

Had to pass on a cat-skiing trip in Fernie the weekend after due to cost, unfortunately.

EDIT: A148pro, if Fattes is dropping the ball on pics, I can stick a few up if you like!

Fattes

masseyno9 wrote: »

Good to hear Fattes.

Gearing up for Revelstoke next weekend. Monday booked off work - weather watching can begin! Last year's trip was cut short because the road closed due to too much snow! This year I'd like an adequate amount of snow. It was 16 degrees in Calgary last weekend and has got steadily colder all week...due to culminate in -14 Sunday I hear. a 30 degree swing over the course of a week sounds drastic, but I've seen it happen over 2 days before. Crazy weather patterns out here! Here's hoping that out in BC it's equally cold this week!

Had to pass on a cat-skiing trip in Fernie the weekend after due to cost, unfortunately.

EDIT: A148pro, if Fattes is dropping the ball on pics, I can stick a few up if you like!

The only difference between cat skiing and Revelstoke is the price! Terrain in Revie is amazing the sketelrick trees!! Oh my getting excited just thinking about the

Fattes

https://www.facebook.com/Jonsbert/posts/10152958116971539:0

a148pro

Also whoever thought of this thread it was a great idea, rejuvenated things on this forum. Junkies like us have a place to repeatedly express our desire for all things ski related.

AlternateID

a148pro wrote: »

Also whoever thought of this thread it was a great idea, rejuvenated things on this forum. Junkies like us have a place to repeatedly express our desire for all things ski related.

I hate snow.

salmocab

Just to let you all know you sicken me, no skiing this year wasn't looking likely money wise with a baby on the way for the wife and then done my ACL before christmas. Wasn't too bothered as I avoided looking up anything about it this year but just had a quick look through this thread and am sick as a dog now.

fmlarnapairce

i'm in same boat, not hitting the mountains this year (unless I get a new job sharpish), my regular crowd are arriving in ischgl as we speak, bstrds

AlternateID

Burton European Open is on this weekend. Cormee will be please. Horgmo got third in the slopestyle. Awesome course too.

You can watch the mens finals here on redbull.tv

http://www.redbull.tv/videos/event-stream-481/final-slopestyle-men

1st: Stale Sandbech
2nd: Mark McMorris
3rd: Torstein Horgmo

Womens final
1st: Christy Prior
2nd: Jamie Anderson
3rd: Enni Rukajärvi

Halfpipe finals tomorrow.


FWT is also on and was postponed today after the last of the women's skiers had to be airlifted. I think there were 14 women and more than half were caught out by conditions. As they still had womens snowboard, mens snowboard and mens ski still to run it was decided to finish for the day. I don't suppose you've heard Fattes if they are running tomorrow?